Fresh-air inlet.



J. LEVY & E. L. YOUNG.

FRESH AIR INLET. APPLIO ATION FILED 11116.31, 190B.

Patented June 29, 1909.

WITNESS x maw.

ATTORN EY UNITED STATES PATENT OEFXCE.

JACOB LEVY AND EDWARD LEE YOUNG, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS TO THE LEE IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FRE SH-AIB INLET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 31, 1908.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Serial No. 450,982.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JACOB LEVY and EDWARD LEE YOUNG, citizens of the United States, and residents of the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, United States of America, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Fresh-Air Inlets, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to fresh air inlets such as are commonly used in conjunction with sewer pipes, and its object is to provide an inlet fixture of simple construction which shall have a self-closing valve which is sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressures and air currents, and which shall be cheap to construct and efficient and reliable in operation.

To these ends our invention resides in the construction and arrangement of parts which we will describe in the following specification, and the novel features whereof we will point out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of an air inlet fixture made according to our invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of this structure, the section being taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the same structure, the section in this figure being taken on the line 3-13 of Fig. 1. 7

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

10 designates an inclosing casing of this fixture of which the lower portion 11 is in the form of a hollow pipe adapted to be fastened to a sewerage piping system in any well known manner. Its upper portion 12 is enlarged to form a hollow protecting dome within which the working parts of the apparatus are supported and inclosed. 13 designates openings about the sides of this part of the casing which is constructed, as shown, to form blades 14 which are inclined upward to prevent dirt and foreign substances from entering the structure.

15 is a cap secured to the upper part of the casing and forms the top of the protecting dome. Its central portion is constructed in the form of a downwardly projecting cone 16 as shown in Fig. 1.

17 is a part of the casing which is inside of the dome and which is in the form of a rectangular box surrounding the air passage and Open at the top and bottom, with two of its sides carried up as shown at 18 to support the shutters which form the valve mechanism which we will describehereinafter. This box-like structure 17 is in open communication with the lower portion 11 of the casing, but its base is shut oil from the protecting dome 12.

19, 19 are holes provided in the bottom of the dome of the casing outside of the boxlike portion 17.

20 is a horizontal pivot rod supported in the parts 18, 18 of the casing and arranged to support two lids or shutters 21 and 23.

22 is a weighted arm extending beyond the pivot 20 from the shutter 21, and 24 is a similar weighted arm extending beyond the pivot 20 from the shutter 23.

25 is a vertical guide-rod extending downwardly from the center of the pivot 20 to a point opposite the base of the portion 17 of the casing from which it is supported by wires 26. Slidably supported upon the guide-rod 25 is a concave actuating disk 27 which is connected with the shutters 21 and 23 by connecting rods or links 28 and 29.

The shutters and their connected parts are so arranged that the shutters effectively close the top of the rectangular structure 17 and prevent any egress of air or other gases through. the structure when they are in the position in which they are shown in full lines in Fig. 1. These parts are, however, delicately balanced so that any vacuum within the pipe, or tendency to draw air into the pipe system to which this device is applied, will quickly draw down the shutters into the position in which they are indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as to allow free passage of fresh air into the pipe system. \Vhen the shutters are in their open position and a back draft occurs, tending to pass out through this structure the shutters will quickly close again. This is partly because they are of light construction and delicately balanced, but is largely due to the ellect of the air or gases upon the disk 27. The first upward draft of air against this disk, which is placed between the shutters and the sewer pipe with its concave face downward to increase its efiiciency, will have a tendency to push the disk upward and, through the links 28 and 29, to close the shutters. The upward draft will have a similar effect upon the shutters themselves, especially when they are nearly closed, but the efhciency of the device and the delicacy of its operation are greatly enhanced by the use of the concave disk. This disk is placed somewhat below the shutters so that the upward draft acts upon it before it reaches the shutters themselves. Moreover, as the concave disk is constructed of some light non-corrodible material such, for

example, as sheet copper, and is so placed as to always retain a certain amount of air or gas under it, it will rise above any water or other fluid by its own buoyancy should such water back up into the casing from any cause. Consequently, the shutters will be closed and will prevent flooding of the basement or yard where this device is installed. The shutters are also constructed of light non-corrodible material which will not be deteriorated by the gases to which they are exposed.

The peculiar shape of the cap 15, which forms the top of the dome, is so made as to 'uide the currents of air which pass into the fixture through the openings 13, and also provides clearance for the weighted arms 22 and 24 when they are in their raised positions. As these fixtures are usually placed out-of-doors in unprotected places they may be exposed in the winter-time to snow and sleet which may drive in through the openings 13. The snow and sleet will be affected by the heat of the sewer gases which will melt it and might cause it to become caked and to clog up the working parts of the device. To obviate this difliculty we have provided the drainage openings 19 which will allow the melted snow or sleet to pass out at the base of the dome.

ll hile our invention may be used in many places, it is especially applicable to place over the fresh air inlet near the lower part of the sewerage system of a structure, which system is provided with overhead vent pipes. In such installations a circulation of air is desired through the system and air inlets are provided through which the air is admitted to the pipes. Vlhen any of the plumbing fixtures are discharged or flushed into the waste pipes, the flow will cause a rush of air and foul gases which will pass out through the air inlet unless some such devices as that which we have herein disclosed is provided. Such apparatus as has been heretofore designed to meet these rc quirements has been unsatisfactory for various reasons, and our object is to remove the objectionable features of such apparatus eeeyroa and to provide a simple and efficient device which shall be inexpensive to manufacture and install, and which will be automatically actuated by but slight differences of atmospheric pressure.

What we claim is.

1. 1 fresh air inlet fnrture constructed to form an air passage, a balanced shutter arranged to open and close said passage, and an actuating disk in said passage and connected with said shutter.

2. A fresh air inlet fixture arranged to be connected with a sewer and constructed to form an air passage, a balanced pivoted shutter arranged to open and close said passage, and a disk in said passage between the shutter and the sewer and connected with said shutter.

3. A fresh air inlet constructed to form an air passage, a balanced pivoted shutter arranged to open and close said passage, and a concave actuating disk in said passage below the shutter and connected with said shutter.

4. A fresh air inlet fixture constructed to form an air passage, a pair of balanced pivoted shutters arranged to open and close said passage, and an actuating disk suspended from said shutters.

A fresh air inlet fixture constructed to form an air passage, a pair of balanced pivoted shutters arranged to open and close said air passage, a concave actuating disk in the air passage below the shutters, and links connecting said disk with the shutters.

6. A fresh air inlet fixture constructed to form an air passage, a pair of pivoted shutters arranged to open and close said passage, a concave actuating disk in the air passage below the shutters, links connecting said disk with the shutters, and a pair of weighted arms arranged to balance the shutters and the disk.

7. A fresh air inlet fixture comprising a casing constructed to form an air passage, a pair of balanced shutters pivoted within said casing and arranged to open and close said passage, and an actuating disk suspended from said shutters.

8. A. fresh air inlet fixture comprising a casing constructed to form an air passage and a protecting dome, a pair of shutters pivoted within said casing and arranged to open and close said passage, weighted arms projecting from the shutters and arranged to balance the shutters, a concave actuating disk, and links connecting said disk with the shutters.

9. A fresh air inlet fixture comprising a casing constructed to form an air passage and a protecting dome, said casing having a rectangular portion within the dome and surrounding the air passage, a pair of shutters pivoted Within said casing and respective names to this specification in the arranged to open and close the rectangular presence of two subscrlblng witnesses. portlon oi the caslng, a concave actuatlng disk, links connecting said disk with the YOUNG 0 shutters, and Weighted arms projecting from the shutters and arranged to balance the Witnesses: shutters and actuating disk. ERNEST N. MARSHALL,

In testimony whereof we have signed our l ELLA TUGII. 

